Name______
Grew to the West
Directions: Use these lyrics to follow along with the song “Grew To The West”. After listening to the song, use the word bank to answer the questions.
How did the USA get to be
The size it is on maps we see?
It started with thirteen colonies
Then grew to the West with more territory
France claimed the land past the Mississippi
Sold it for $15 million in 1803
To the US government which gave our country
The best real estate deal in history
Thomas Jefferson bought the land from Napoleon for only 3 cents an acre.
What did they call this purchase?
1) It was the ______
Two great explorers with little time for play
Their journey took eight-hundred and sixty four days
Their mission was to find the safest way
To reach the Pacific and start more trade
Grew to the West cont’
Exploration is dangerous; Meriwether was accidentally shot in the butt when he was mistaken for an elk.
Who were these two explorers?
2) It was ______and ______
The first people traveling West had no car
Or a fast train with a salad bar
10 miles a day was about as far as they could get with this thing that was pulled by a horse...
3) They used ______
How did the USA get to be
The size it is on maps we see?
It started with thirteen colonies
Then grew to the West with more territory
How did the settlers know where to go?
When there were no maps or a single paved road
Landmarks and stories were the way to know
That, Native Americans could easily show
What did pioneers travel along before super highways were built?
4) They followed ______, like the Oregon and Santa Fe
California, in the year 1849,
Had something that thousands of people came to find
A great discovery with money making shine
Grew to the West cont’
They called them "forty-niners," they worked in a mine
What event was attended almost completely by men who wanted to get rich (even though most did not)?
5) That's the ______
Settlers were killing all their buffalo
So they bravely fought back like Geronimo
Loosing their land with no place to go
But their fate would be negotiating reservations of land and trying to build a new identity in a modern world...
6) They were ______
You know how the USA got to be
The size it is on maps we see
It started with thirteen colonies
Then grew to the West with more territory
Name______
Directions: After listening to the song “Grew to the West,” use the word bank to answer questions.
1. Who originally claimed the land west of the Mississippi river?
______
2. In what year did the Louisiana Purchase take place?
______
3. Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase from whom?
______
4. How long did it take Lewis & Clark to travel to the Pacific
Ocean and back? ______
5. Why did Lewis & Clark go to the Pacific Ocean and back?
______
Grew to the West cont’
6. About how many miles a day could a covered wagon travel?
______
7. Name two important trails that led westward.
______and ______
8. In what year did the California Gold Rush begin? ______
9. What were the California Gold Rush miners called?
______
10. Name a famous Native American who fought the settlers'
Westward expansion.
______
“Grew to the West” Answer Key
Part 1, read along questions:
1. Louisiana Purchase
2. Lewis and Clark
3. Covered Wagons
4. Trails
5. California Gold Rush
6. Native Americans
Part 2, fill-in-the-blank questions:
1. France
2. 1803
3. Napoleon
4. 864 days
5. To find a safe trade route
6. Ten
7. The Oregon Trail and The Santa Fe Trail
8. 1849
9. Forty-niners
10. Geronimo